Body components of the aforementioned type are nowadays closed largely by manual actuation. Slamming or banging often introduces too much energy into the closing process, as a result of which the body component and functional components supported therein or their suspension arrangements are subjected to a high degree of stress when the body component is closed as a result of the high acceleration. This leads, on the one hand, to expensive measures to prevent rattling in order to allow for rattle-free movement of the body component even in continuous use. On the other hand, the functional components and their bearing arrangements must be designed to be able to withstand high stresses for reliable continuous operation. Nowadays, motor vehicle doors have to be designed for approximately 100,000 or more loads with forces of acceleration of 30 g to 50 g, necessitating a complex design and bearing arrangement for these functional components and increasing the costs unnecessarily. It would therefore be desirable if the operator could be prevented in a reliable manner from manually closing or banging shut body components of the aforementioned type at too high a speed.
Measures are known from the prior art in which doors or the like are closed automatically by means of an electric drive. During normal operation, the door cannot be driven or actuated manually, thereby preventing the aforementioned problems in a reliable manner. An automatic door drive of this kind is of course relatively expensive and complex safety measures have to be taken in the case of system failure.
DE 41 40 197 C2 discloses a method of moving a power-operated component, in which the door is braked to such an extent during opening or closing that closing is only possible after another command, triggered by actuating an electric switch. Locking or complete closing of the door can only be effected manually. Compared to a manually closable door, the operator in this case has to learn a new system, which is often not desirable.
Power closing aids for power closing motor vehicles are also known from the prior art, as disclosed, e.g. in DE 101 55 307 A1 and DE 103 27 448 A1. However, door closing systems of this kind require the door to be closed to what is referred to as the pre catch. The aforementioned problems can still occur during manual closing of the door to the pre catch.
The following prior art should additionally be mentioned: DE 38 16 175 C2, corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4,945,677, discloses a hinged sliding door for motor vehicles.
DE 103 23 001 A1, corresponding to US 2004/0020126 A1, discloses a vehicle door device with a driving and closing mechanism, in which a control mechanism is provided in order to control the actuation of the driving and closing mechanism on the basis of a door closing command and in which a detection device is provided in order to detect whether a closing member is positioned within the range in which the closing member can be brought into engagement with a latch. A driving force reducing mechanism is furthermore provided in the control mechanism for reducing the power output of the driving mechanism once the detection device has detected that the closing member is positioned within the range in which the closing member can be engaged with the latch.
DE 102 45 192 A1, corresponding to US 2006/0151231 A1, discloses a device for closing a motor vehicle door. A first lock part is coupled to a switching element, the activation of a closing aid which transfers the lock parts into a locking position being dependent on the switching state thereof.
DE 1 580 047 A, corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 3,398,484, discloses a device for the drive of a motor vehicle door.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,359,762 B1 discloses a method for controlling a powered sliding door. According to the method, the sliding speed is measured by a sensor once a predetermined interval has elapsed after the actuation of a drive motor of the sliding door. The measured sliding speed is compared with a lower limit speed in accordance with a value of the battery voltage of the vehicle. The movement of the sliding door is stopped or reversed if the sliding speed is lower than the lower limit speed. This is supposed to prevent malfunctions as a result of an insufficient power supply to the system. In particular, a reliable pinch protection is also supposed to be effected in this manner.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,076,016 discloses a powered motor vehicle sliding door with an electromagnetic clutch in order to drive a cable for opening and closing the sliding door.
Another problem encountered when closing body components of the aforementioned type is the jamming or pinch of objects or body parts during the closing process. A reliable pinch protection is therefore also desirable.